Magellan Cyclo 505HC review

by Matt Wikstrom

It's fair to say that Garmin has become the dominant force in the cyclo-computer market in recent years with their range of GPS-enabled Edge units. But with the Cyclo 505HC, Magellan is hoping to challenge the top dog and provide riders with a viable (if not preferable) alternative. CTech Editor Matt Wikstrom put the Magellan Cyclo 505HC through its paces and wrote this review.

Magellan was founded in 1986 with the aim of developing commercial products based on GPS technology. The NAV 1000, the world’s first commercial handheld GPS receiver, starting shipping in 1989 and Magellan expanded its operations into military, professional and general aviation markets.

Since then, Magellan has changed hands (and names) a few times. In 1994, the company was bought by the Orbital Sciences Corporation, who then sold it to the Thales Group in 2001, resulting in a change of name to Thales Navigation. Thales Navigation continued until 2008 when the current owner, MiTAC International Corporation, acquired the company and renamed it Magellan Navigation.

Interestingly, MiTAC also owns Navman Technology, making it something of a powerhouse in GPS technology that meshes well with its interest in wireless communication. Magellan continues to concentrate on portable GPS devices with the bulk of its products designed for the outdoors and fitness markets.

Magellan recently entered the cycling market and offers two GPS platforms: the Cyclo 100 series and the Cyclo 500 series. The Cyclo 100 series is a basic GPS device that collects ride data with minimal navigation functions and retails for $129-$249. By contrast, the Cyclo 500 series is larger and features a full-colour touchscreen, pre-loaded maps, a variety of navigation functions, and retails for $379-479.

For this review, Magellan Australia provided us with the Cyclo 505HC bundle which comprises the Cyclo 505 head unit, a heartrate monitor and a cadence/speed sensor kit.

Before the ride

The Cyclo 500 series comprises two models, Cyclo 500 and Cyclo 505. Both units are identical — 3-inch colour touchscreens, Bluetooth Smart and Wi-Fi connectivity, plus preloaded maps and rides — but the Cyclo 505 also offers ANT+ connectivity. The heartrate monitor strap and cadence/speed sensor supplied in the Cyclo 505HC bundle take advantage of ANT+ and the unit will also collect data from any ANT+ power meter, if present.

The Cyclo 500 series is pre-loaded with maps of both Australia and New Zealand, courtesy of OpenStreetMap (OSM) and HERE. OSM is an open database of maps inspired by Wikipedia that is crowd-sourced while HERE is a commercial map vendor. The inclusion of two sets of maps may seem redundant, but differences in detail (OSM provides extensive detail on bike paths, for example) influence the device’s navigation and the user is free to toggle between each map set, depending on their needs.

While there is potential for owners to update and add maps from either source, this feature is not available, though I’m told Magellan is working on it.

One promising feature included with the maps is called “Places of Interest” (POI). POI is a sub-function of the device’s navigation that provides data on the proximity of a variety of places such as bike shops, cafes, medical facilities, ATMs, and tourist attractions and can be selected according to your needs. Once selected, the Cyclo 505 calculates the distance and provides a profile of the route for review before you load it to follow. In short, the device answers the question, “Hey, do you know where the nearest (insert POI here) is?”

The Cyclo 500/505 also comes preloaded with a selection of ride routes (“Tracks”) from around Australia thanks to Bicycling Australia and their “Where To Ride” series of books. Cyclists have prepared these rides and every state/territory except the Northern Territory is represented. As such, they provide unfamiliar riders with ready access to some of the country’s best rides. In addition, there are many more routes available for download.

Magellan provides an online application where you can upload and share your rides with other Magellan users. Once the Cyclo 505 is registered with an account on Magellan Cyclo, owners can use Wi-Fi to automatically upload new ride data, and if they connect this account with their Strava account, the new data will also appear in Strava automatically. Alternatively, users can bypass Magellan Cyclo if they’re prepared to manually upload their rides (via cable only, no Wi-Fi).

The Magellan Cyclo portal also promises route design, but at present this feature is not available. Fortunately, the Cyclo 505 works with other mapping applications such as Map My Ride, albeit manually, so the user has to install the downloaded file in the device’s Tracks folder before it can be accessed.

Looking at the rest of the device, a rechargeable lithium ion battery provides a run time of 12 hours for the Cyclo 505. It is water resistant with a rating of IPX7, which means it can withstand immersion to one metre for 30 minutes, more than adequate for heavy showers. Two mounting brackets are supplied with the device, one that mounts on the stem or handlebars with zip-ties, and an out-front arm. In both cases, the Cyclo 505 attaches with a twist.

The heartrate monitor strap is a simple affair to install, as is the cadence/speed sensor kit. For the latter, zip-ties are included for securing the sensors to the chainstay of the bike. The only way to check that the sensors are functioning is to use the device, which involves starting it up and pairing with each item. This can take a few moments that can stretch to minutes if multiple sensors are present. Unfortunately, the device must reconnect with each sensor every time it is started up.

An AC charger and USB cable are included for charging and/or data transfer, but keep in mind that the device has Wi-Fi connectivity too. A screen protector is also included, and Magellan offers a two-year warranty on the device. Expect to pay $379 for the Cyclo 500, $399 for the Cyclo 505, and $479 for the Cyclo 505HC bundle.

After the ride

I found the Cyclo 505 was easy to get going but having spent a lot of time with Garmin’s Edge 200, I was already well versed in the use of a GPS device. Riders that are new to GPS can expect a steep learning curve but the technology has a lot to offer cyclists.

Navigating the Cyclo 505’s menus was straightforward and intuitive, more so thanks to the touchscreen. GPS connection was very quick but pairing with ANT+ devices such as the cadence/speed sensor was much slower, as mentioned above. The device can be set to automatically scan for the sensors that are regularly used but the Cyclo 505 goes through the pairing ritual every time it is started, delaying collection from those sensors. Route calculation could also be slow too, and there was a 200km limit for any destination.

The Dashboard (which displays all the data collected by the device) is fully customisable so the user can choose not only which data is displayed (e.g. current speed, altitude, cadence, heartrate, power, calories burned etc.), but also how many fields are present (two to eight are possible) and the number of pages available. My preference was for fewer fields and fewer pages. Once the device was collecting data, touching arrows on the screen advanced the display to the next page of data so it was quick and easy to keep an eye on my progress.

In the past, uploading my ride data was a chore that I normally put off because it always involved finding a USB cable, connecting the device, and logging into my Strava account. The Cyclo 505’s Wi-Fi sync with my Magellan Cyclo account bypassed all of that effort, and as promised, the data was automatically sent to my Strava account. While setting up another account may seem like a hassle, in this instance, it was worth the effort.

Using the navigation functions of the Cyclo 505 was straightforward too. There are options to enter an address, place a point on the map, or provide coordinates. Two routes are prepared for every destination — one that is classified as a bike route and the other, a car route — and these can be viewed and compared before deciding which one to follow.

I was able to influence the Cyclo 505’s route calculation by changing my preferences for the inclusion/exclusion of major roads, bike paths, unsealed roads, and even cobbled roads. Toggling between OSM and HERE maps also influenced route calculation. Unfortunately there was no option to make the route as short as possible (or to avoid traffic lights).

Overall, I found the calculated bike routes tended to be indirect due to the device’s preference for back streets, while the car routes were more direct and suitable provided I elected to avoid highways.

Once I decided upon a route, it loaded promptly and the device displayed the course profile. Flicking to the next page takes you to an overhead map of the route, while punching “Go” readies the device for recording data (and provides directions to the start point, if required). After that, a large arrow appears at the top left-hand corner of the map screen to advise me of the next turn. Interestingly, if I ever missed a turn — or multiple turns — the device was intent on turning me around to retrace my steps rather than finding a way to re-join the route, even though I was closing in on my destination.

I found that the Places of Interest (POI) feature was very handy, especially on longer rides through unfamiliar suburbs and regions. It was a simple affair to look up a POI — thanks again to the touchscreen — where I could scroll through a list ranked by proximity before deciding on my destination. The only thing missing from the Cyclo 505’s POI was public toilets.

One of the best reasons to use GPS on the bike is to design (and share) routes that help you discover the world around you. In this regard, the routes provided by Bicycling Australia make for a great starting point. They will appeal immediately to newcomers as well as interstate travellers, but experienced riders may find a new ride (or two) amongst the selection on offer.

Getting access to the preloaded routes was just a matter of selecting “Tracks” from the Navigation menu. All of the rides are listed in alphabetical order (which can be reversed to help searching) but unfortunately there is no search function. Inevitably, I found myself scrolling through the list to hunt down a specific ride. Regardless, it is a fine collection of rides that adds value to the Cyclo 505.

When I wanted to design my own ride, I had no trouble installing and following a route designed with Map My Ride. All I had to do was download it from May My Ride on to my desktop and then copy it (via USB) to the Tracks folder on the Cyclo 505. With all of the preloaded routes though, it pays to carefully select a name for your own routes (e.g. “AAA My new ride”) so that it is easy to locate in the Tracks menu.

The Cyclo 505 offers an interesting navigation function called “Surprise Me”. Users provide an address, POI or a point on the map, and the device will calculate a selection of routes. Alternatively, you can select Loop and elect a target distance that is used to design different courses that will loop back to your current position. In every instance, a maximum of three routes are offered with a detailed profile for consideration. In practice, I found the function worked well for destinations, however the device had a tendency to backtrack on parts of a route when it had to satisfy a prescribed distance.

I didn’t make use of the Workout menu, but users have a choice of electing a workout based on distance, time, calorie consumption, heartrate or power zones. The Cyclo 505HC also has an indoor training mode where the device will collect speed, cadence, heartrate, and/or power data for those users taking to rollers or a stationary trainer rather than the road.

Final thoughts and summary

The Cyclo 505 is a very effective device with lots of nice features, however there are a couple of limitations that affect its appeal. First, there is only the promise that the device’s maps can be updated in the future and that other countries can be added. Whether this will be free or come at a charge is unclear. Second, Magellan’s Cyclo application is under-developed, and while users are able to use other applications to create and share rides, it will be an obstacle for buyers that are new to GPS.

Such considerations are important because Magellan has designed its Cyclo 500 series to compete directly with Garmin’s Edge 510 and Edge 810. The Edge 510 may be cheaper ($349), but it lacks maps, while the Edge 810 costs considerably more and the preloaded basemap lacks detail ($499).

On this basis alone, Magellan has trumped the market leader, so I hope the company expands its support for this product to ensure its utility in the coming years.

Gallery

WRAP-UP

Promising

Cyclists looking to enter the upper end of the GPS market should take a look at Magellan’s Cyclo 505HC. It is a well-priced bundle that includes a heart-rate monitor strap, cadence/speed sensor plus highly detailed Australian and New Zealand maps. The device is easy to use with some thoughtful and interesting features plus lots of connectivity (ANT+, Bluetooth Smart, Wi-Fi). The only caveat is that Magellan has yet to provide a mechanism for updating and expanding the maps on the Cyclo 505. RRP: $399 for the Cyclo 505 and $479 for the Cyclo 505HC bundle.

If you do not have access to a PC, then STAY AWAY FROM THIS PRODUCT! Magellan has a no idea when that will become available. Don't even try to call support, I hung up after 32 minutes on hold. My info came from a curt tech who was obviously having a bad day. I'm returning my unit!

Click here to find out what each of the rating criteria mean and how we arrived at the overall score.

Great review and it’s good to see Garmin’s stranglehold of this market given a bit of shakeup.

Can you pair this thing with your phone for uploads to Strava etc… on the fly? I’m intersested as I often want to upload at work or away from home.

From memory of the 510 specs you can bluetooth pair your phone to GPS, but can only upload to the crappy Garminconnect website with dodgy looking third party apps for uploads to Strava.

Matt Wikstrom

I didn’t test pairing with a phone, the only Wi-Fi I tried was at home. The 505 will search for hotspots so I presume it will use a phone or free Wi-Fi at your local cafe to send the data to your Magellan account. The key is to link your Magellan account to Strava and it will pass on the data automatically. The 505 will only try to connect with a Magellan account when using Wi-Fi.

Shaninadelaide

Function ‘yes’ Form ‘no’, is what is screaming out here and is so often the case. My list of improvements would be – sleeker mode button, better integrated bar mount, smaller more stylish spoke magnet, loose the white casing, make it smaller! If they are trying to compete with Garmin its a 1 horse race.

Doug

I have the 500. Whilst generally happy with it, on two occasions when using the Surprise Me function I have followed the instruction to turn arrow only to have it throw a hissy fit a few minutes later and direct me back to the turning point and continue in a different direction. I was amazed to discover on several instances when reviewing the ride history I had averaged close to 50k an hour (I wish – I am a slow rider averaging closer to 20k an hour) and on one instance averaged over 500k an hour. It also has problems with the date of the ride often dating it the previous day. Presumably something to do with the data it is extracting from satellites as the date and time are auto set and can not be overwritten.

I also find the USB port cover fiddly with it often taking numerous attempts to close securely.

velocite

It’s not too much to ask, IMHO, that a bike computer should just work, all the time. That has nearly but not quite been the case with my Garmin devices: Edge 500, 510 and Vectors. The 500 would just stop recording from time to time. Switching off and on always fixed the problem, but of course my ride record was stuffed. Once it had me go to MacQuarrie Island while I was at the Black Kettle having coffee. The 510 last week lost my pages, no idea how, and the buttons! You can’t stop the timer, you can only stop the ride. Frustratement! After reading the intro describing the provenance of Magellan I thought great, these guys will do it right. Disappointing to learn that their initial release is flaky.

Tim Rowe

Glad to see this doesn’t suffer from the myriad of connectivity issues the 105 had. I bought one to get me by while my Garmin 800 was in for repair, and was going to give it to a mate after I got the 800 back. The problems I had in just three weeks with the 105, I refuse to give such a horrific device to either a mate or family member such are the headaches I had with it – and it’s so bad, I feel too guilty to even bring myself to sell it on eBay, so it sits on a shelf. When trying to get help with the product, saying Magellan Support were useless would be too high an amount of praise unto them.

My experiences with the 105, even if people claim the 505 is better, are enough that I will not touch a Magellan GPS any time soon.

Actually FINDING the firmware, and the desktop application, was a nightmare. You’d think they would have the links directly from the product’s webpage, but no, you have to search your way through their “Support” site where the desktop application is actually listed under a support question for the 100 Series!

Danny

I have the 510, also Garmin 800, climbing the same steep hill at the same spot the Garmin read 23% gradient the 510 was up to 9%.
Also can’t find data for extra bikes- just extra users.

Arfy

I assume you mean Magellan 505, rather than Garmin 510? I’ve noticed on the 105 that it takes a while for the gradient to be updated on the screen, it seems to be taking an average over a period of time so it may not register a short rise. This makes sense as a barometric altimeter will have trouble registering a difference in air pressure over just a couple of meters in altitude, particularly when you factor in weather changes (eg going from a hot area to a cold one).

Arfy

With the 105 the biggest gripe I have is that you can’t display the time of day in the customised display screens. The only Time function available shows the time elapsed during a ride! This makes no sense what so ever, as the time of day is simply downloaded from the satellites as part of the GPS data, so it’s quite simple to convert it to the local time and display. Does the 505 allow you to display this on the customised screens?

Interesting you noticed it had to pair with your sensors everytime you used it, I haven’t had that issue with the 105. It sounds like a firmware bug (not holding the sensor information in non-volatile memory), what’s Magellan said about it?

I have noticed the GPS satellite location takes a long time on the 105, pretty much like a GPS cold-start (a good couple of minutes). The issue is you have to wait for the GPS locator to finish before you can start your Dashboard if you want the GPS to record location. Does the 505 fair any better?

Doug

The 500 which I have has the same basic display options as the 505 and you can have it display the actual time in the customisable display section. Additionally, the time displays at the top of the screen at all times though I find it too small to read while travelling.

I have not noticed any delay in locating the satellites after turning on. By the time it has gone through the boot cycle of approximtely 60 seconds it only takes a few seconds to lock on to the satellites.

Paul

I went through 2 of the 505 units in 1 week. The first one would not boot up correctly when turned on. Technical support was fantastic and advised it was a software issue and I got it exchanged from where I purchased the unit. The second one lasted a few days and was great but then it stopped synchronising with my Cyclo or Strava account. Again technical support was very helpful and they advised a software issue and return for replacement. This time however I returned it and got my money back and bought a 510. It was a shame because the suprise me feature was great and the unit worked with my Garmin speed/cadence and heart rate monitors (from my old Garmin 800) which saved me having to buy the Magellan ones. I would like to try this again in a couple of years when all the software bugs have been ironed out.

cookie

You missed one of the best features of the Magellan, smartphone integration! With the new firmware you can control your music and see notifications of messages etc. I still have my old Edge 705, but these new features, wifi strava and especially the smartphone integration have got me thinking about an upgrade.

harvster

i wish Garmin would hurry up and buy Strava, then we will have what we all want – seamless/ wireless upload/download with Strava…..

Steve G

They’re doing their own Strava… have you seen the new connect page and all the crap on there?

Steve G

The only interesting thing is the Di2 integration… mind you, I don’t have Di2, so it’s not much of an interest.
Seems a bit useless if the navigation is shit when maps and mapping are its thing.
I run an Edge 510. I don’t need maps. I generally know where I’m going to be going and how to get back. I definitely don’t need a device to ‘surprise me’ if I just want to meander about.

Mark

Di2 is in the new Garmin1000, not this one.

Steve G

It’s in this one as well. Check the DC Rainmaker blog/review thingy.

Mark

yep your right! Hmm, I guess with ANT it’s easier to add new integration than it is to get the things that you really need to work properly… And from the DC pics the unit is huge compared to the Edge500 that does everything I need.

eatmorelard

Limit of 200km? Deal breaker! I have enough grumble at the max 100 waypoints on the Garmin 800 (Garmin developers have never seen the spiderweb of roads in the UK it would seem) but at least that only affects turn by turn navigation